Winter Preview New Shows

James Franco (yes, that James Franco) plays a high school teacher who steps on a lot of butterflies by going back in time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy in this adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Get ready for head-spinning, time-bending, reality-destroying twists and turns as changing the past for a better future doesn't always work out.

Jane Lynch stars as a guardian angel. Or does she star as a crazy person who thinks she's a guardian angel? That's what Maggie Lawson's character — a straight-laced dermatologist — will have to figure out in this oddball buddy comedy. But you'll have to figure out when to laugh — this is a rare single-camera comedy on CBS.

Rashida Jones stars as an LAPD detective in this cop farce from Steve and Nancy Carell. Naked Gun-style hijinks are a regular occurrence for Angie as part of the Really Heinous Crimes Unit, and with a name like that, they better be. TBS is doing an odd experiment with this one: It's running the entire 10-episode first season five times in a row over a 25-hour span before rolling out the show's already-ordered second season weekly. Each new episode will be paired with an encore of one of Season 1's episodes.

HBO gets back into animated comedy (R.I.P., The Life and Times of Tim) with this look at the wildlife of the Big Apple from the Duplass Brothers. But these critters — rats, pigeons, bed bugs — have chats that are remarkably like our own. What to bring to parties, midlife crises, throwing game at the female of the species… it's the wild kingdom that we can all relate to.

From Zach Galifianakis, Louis C.K., and Jonathan Krisel, Baskets stars Galifianakis as Chip Baskets, a man with big dreams of being a French clown because everyone knows they're the world's biggest clowns. Unfortunately, Chip doesn't make it and is forced to return home to Bakersfield where he takes a job as a rodeo clown and competes with his siblings for his mother's approval.

Get ready for English class flashbacks! This re-imagining of the epic historical poem tells the story of the titular character (Da Vinci's Demons' Kieran Brew), a troubled hero who struggles with living up to his reputation as a fearless warrior in a mythological place known as The Shieldlands. Though he struggles with the corrupt rule of law, he knows he must ultimately stand up and fight for his kinsmen;s survival. William Hurt and Joanne Whalley also star.

The morally corrupt Wall Street money faucet gets a tightening courtesy of a tough-as-balls U.S. Attorney in this thriller set in the world of high finance. Paul Giamatti plays a man out to stop a hedge fund billionaire (Damian Lewis) from bending the rules to pad his wallet in a drama that's a battle of wits, law, and crime. Did we mention that Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis are in this?

Finally making its long-awaited debut, the satirical animated series from Family Guy writer Mark Hentemann is set on the U.S.-Mexico border and follows two families — the Buckwalds and the Gonzalezes — as the series explores the cultural shifts in America. The voice cast is led by Hank Azaria as Bud Buckwald, a Border Patrol agent who's behind the times, and Nicholas Gonzalez as Ernesto Gonzalez, an immigrant who has been in the country less than 10 years, but is doing better than Bud. Alex Borstein, Judah Friedlander, Missi Pyle, Stephanie Escajeda and Efren Ramirez round out the rest of the cast.

This four-part docuseries follows the outspoken Chelsea Handler as she tackles varying topics, such as marriage, racism and drugs, through interviews and on-location visits to get a better understanding of the subject. Want to see Handler do some highly illegal and psychedelic drugs? Want to watch her interview Netflix CEO Reed Hastings about how his service works? Want to see her sit down with an ex-boyfriend to discuss love? They're all here.

You know you all missed Lost's Sawyer on your TV, so here's the next best thing. Walking blue-collar jeans ad Josh Holloway sticks with science fiction and executive producer Carlton Cuse in this drama about the human race surviving an invasion by "outside intruders." While some people work with the invaders, others rise up and form a resistance, and we'll bet our last dollar that Holloway is one of them. Sarah Wayne Callies, Peter Jacobson and Amanda Righetti also star.

This new comedy promises to guide viewers through life's many messy and hilarious obstacles and situations so they don't have to actually live through them, which we guess is sort of the point of TV anyway. Jack Cutmore-Scott stars as the titular guide; Meaghan Rath plays Kelly Bishop, Cooper's neighbor; Justin Bartha is Josh, Cooper's older brother'; and Charlie Sexton and James Earl play Cooper's roommates Neal and Barry, respectively. Rounding out the cast is Liza Lapira as Josh's wife Leslie.

Degrassi is here for yet another generation. As evidenced by the fancy new subtitle, Netflix's 20-episode order for the series f is a bit of a reboot after Degressi: The Next Generation. The latest chapter of the 35-year-old Canadian franchise is said to target the post-Millenial youths and will feature returning cast members including Amanda Arcuri, Reiya Downs, Ana Golja,Nikki Gould, Ricardo Hoyos, Ehren Kassam, Andre Kim, Lyle Lettau, Spencer Macpherson, Eric Osborne, Olivia Scriven, Sara Waisglass and Richard Walters.

The mayor (Joan Allen) of a fictional town in California has her campaign for governor upended when her son who was presumed dead for 12 years shows up unannounced. But is he really her son, or is he an impostor? Hopefully this political drama will answer that question! Alison Pill, Zach Gilford and Rupert Graves also star.

The late-night landscape will welcome a bold new voice when Daily Show alum Samantha Bee launches this new weekly half-hour show, which the host describes as a "sharp, topical late-night comedy show." And she's not worried about being the only woman in late night: In fact, she's got bigger balls than all her dude competitors!

Want to spend more time with the Tanner family? You got it, dude! This sequel to Full House recreates the premise of the original show when DJ (Candace Cameron Bure) asks her sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and best friend Kimmy Gibler (Andrea Barber) to move in and help her raise her three sons in the wake of her husband's death. Look for most of the original cast, including John Stamos, Bob Saget, Dave Coulier and Lori Loughlin, to make appearances during the first season. However, the Olsen twins chose not to be involved. How rude!

Fox hopes the popular musical can bring in some live audience ratings just like The Wiz! and Sound of Music did for NBC (let's all pretend Peter Pan Live! didn't happen). The three-hour show stars Julianne Hough as Sandy, Aaron Tveit as Danny, Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo, Keke Palmer as Marty and Carlos PenaVega as Kenickie.

Like Broad City, Idiotsitter is a comedy with two female leads who wear funky clothes that graduated from web series to full-fledged television show. It stars Charlotte Newhouse as a straight-laced woman tasked with watching out for a super-spoiled rich woman under house arrest (Workaholics' Jillian Bell).

This British import (it already aired in England) continues television's revitalized interest in the spy genre. Ben Whishaw (The Hour) stars as Danny, a fun-loving dude who falls for the introverted and brilliant Alex. But when Alex goes missing, Danny learns he was secretly a spy and decides to enter the world of international espionage to find out what happened to him. Spoiler alert: What happened to Alex is not good!

Based on the character introduced in DC Comics' The Sandman, the series stars Tom Ellis as the charismatic lord of hell who gets bored with his hellish routine and escapes to Los Angeles, where he uses his gift of persuasion to punish bad guys and open upscale nightclubs. As one does. But the longer Lucifer is away from the underworld, the greater the threat that the worst of humanity could escape. Lesley-Ann Brandt, Lauren German and DB Woodside round out the cast.

Shawn Ryan (The Shield) adapted a British dark comedy about four 40-something blokes who get more than they bargained for when they vacation in Belize to visit a successful friend. A few nights of boozing, schmoozing and mingling with the native women goes south when they get tangled in the local crime scene and a murder here and there. The kick-ass cast includes Romany Malco, Steve Zahn, Michael Imperioli, Ben Chapman and Billy Zane.

This two-night miniseries stars Richard Dreyfuss as the infamous embezzler Bernie Madoff who took millions from anyone who would sign their name on the dotted line. The project will cover Madoff's rise as an investment advisor to becoming one of the greatest con men of the modern era to the disastrous fallout with the public, his friends and family. Blythe Danner, Tom Lipinski and Peter Scolari also star.

Based on the best-selling novels by Lev Grossman, this adult and American take on Harry Potter follows sexy 20-somethings as they discover Brakebills Academy, a university that teaches the very real art of magic. But this ain't no pulling-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat learning course – these are real spells that could pose a danger to mankind.

Set in 1862 Virginia during the Civil War, this latest historical drama from PBS follows the volatile situation at a border town hospital that services men and women from both the North and the South. The series follows two nurses, one abolitionist and one Confederate, as they tend to all manner of injured from both sides of the war. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Hannah James and Josh Radnor star.

Set 1,000 years before the birth of Christ, Of Kings and Prophets is a biblical tale told through the eyes of a king (Ray Winstone), a prophet (Mohammad Bakri) and a young shepherd (Olly Rix) whose paths collide when the first king of the Israelites (Winstone) struggles to unify the 12 tribes and defend his fledgling nation against savage enemy attacks.

The South does rise again in this backwoods drama from upstart WGN America. A clan of hillbillies in the Appalachians bands together to defend its turf against a pesky sheriff (The Bridge's Thomas M. Wright) and, you know, civilization. This one will give Sons of Anarchy a run for the show with the greasiest hair. David Morse, Joe Anderson and Ryan Hurst also star.

Creator Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) brings his uncanny knack of making you cry and feel things to religion in this drama about a controversial Scientology-like practice and the people who preach it. Hugh Dancy, Aaron Paul and Michelle Monaghan star.

Not to be confused with American Horror Story, American Crime, or anything that you can make a good case for being on TV, Ryan Murphy's latest is based on the book The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin and goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the trial that captivated the nation in the '90s. Told from the perspective of the lawyers, the series stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian and Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran.

This family sitcom for the modern era comes from the mind of sex-advice columnist Dan Savage, so get ready for some controversial comedy that's already caused some conservatives to call for its cancellation. Martha Plimpton plays the matriarch of a tight-knit Catholic family in Chicago whose lives get flipped upside down when personal secrets surface.

A new drama based on the young adult novel of the same name by Blake Nelson, Recovery Road follows Maddie, a teenager and former party girl who's recovering from addiction in a sober living facility. The series stars Jessica Sula, Alexis Carra, Sebastian De Souza, Daniel Franzese, Sharon Leal, Kyla Pratt and David Witts.

In Second Chance, formerly known as both Lookinglass and The Frankenstein Code, a disgraced 75-year-old ex-sheriff named Jimmy Pritchard, whose life ends at the hands of corrupt cops, is resurrected as an attractive and superhumanly strong 35-year-old (played by True Blood's Rob Kazinsky) by a pair of young tech scientists (Greek's Dilshad Vadsaria and Rules of Engagement's Adhir Kalyan). The series is executive-produced by Rand Ravich (Life, Crisis) and Howard Gordon (Homeland). White Collar's Tim DeKay stars as one of Jimmy's two sons.

Shades of Blue follows Jennifer Lopez's Harlee Santos, a single mother and a crooked New York detective (Copmom Momcop strikes again!) who is turned by the FBI to rat on her equally dirty co-workers. Ray Liotta co-stars as her boss, who's determined to find the FBI informant, while Warren Kole plays Harlee's FBI handler, who develops an unhealthy obsession with her. Drea de Matteo, Dayo Okeniyi, Vincent Laresca, Hampton Fluker and Sarah Jeffery also star.

Shadowhunters, based on the book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, follows the life of Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara), an 18-year-old girl who learns that she comes from a long line of Shadowhunters, aka human-angel hybrids who hunt demons and protect the innocent. She finds herself thrown into their dangerous world after her mother goes missing and it's then that she meets the mysterious Jace (Dominic Sherwood) and fellow Shadowhunters Izzy (Emeraude Toubia) and Alec (Matthew Daddario). Her best friend Simon (Alberto Rosende) is also along for the ride.

MTV is moving slightly out of its comfort zone of teenaged werewolves for an epic fantasy series based on Terry Brooks' Shannara series of books, which were first published in 1977. Set thousands of years after the destruction of our own civilization, you can expect elves, demons, threats of darkness taking over the kingdom and magical trees. Is it MTV's answer to Game of Thrones? Judging from the impressive trailer, it looks like the network threw Game of Thrones money at it.

Kal Penn (Kumar!) hosts this two-hour special that features contestants with near-superhuman abilities in talents such as super memory, super hearing, super touch, etc., with the one who can push their abilities furthest to the limit winning a cool $100,000. It's based on a German show. Mike Tyson, Mary Lynn Rajskub and neurosurgeon Dr. Rahul Jandial will be on hand to provide commentary

Ugly Betty's America Ferrera and Mad Men's Ben Feldman star in this workplace comedy, which follows the shenanigans of the employees of a megastore. Ferrera's Amy is the responsible star employee while Feldman's Jonah is the new guy who's determined to have a bit of fun. Rounding out the cast is the sarcastic Garrett (Colton Dunn), the ambitious Mateo (Nico Santos), pregnant teen Cheyenne (Nichole Bloom), clueless manager Glenn (Mark McKinney) and the by-the-book assistant manager Dina (Lauren Ash).

Comedy troupe the Katydids wrote and star in this comedy about elementary school teachers, and if they're in charge, the next generation is doomed. Not able to handle shaping the kids' lives, let alone their own, these teachers would rather use their students to stalk exes or get revenge on the bitchy art teacher.

John Legend produces this dramatic recounting of the Underground Railroad, a treacherous network of secret passages that sent African-American slaves to their freedom during the 1850s. Straight Outta Compton's Aldis Hodge and Friday Night Lights' Jurnee Smollett-Bell star, and Heroes' Misha Green and Joe Pokaski executive-produce.

Are you ready to rock? Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter, the guys behind Boardwalk Empire, are back with this new rock 'n' roll drama set in the 1970s. Bobby Cannavale stars as a record executive looking for the hot new sound just as disco, hip-hop and punk are blowing up in New York City. The all-star cast also includes Ray Romano, Olivia Wilde and Max Casella, and behind the scenes, some guy named Mick Jagger is on board as an executive producer.

The book you've used to keep your table from wobbling gets the television adaptation treatment courtesy of A&E Networks and the BBC. Leo Tolstoy's lengthy classic will be compacted into a six-part limited series and tells the story of five wealthy families in 1805 Russia during the reign of Alexander I and Napoleon's invasion years later. Lily James (Downton Abbey) is set to star as Natasha Rostova and Paul Dano will play Pierre Bezukhov. Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent and James Norton will also star. The series will air simultaneously on A&E, Lifetime and History.

A British import, this adrenaline-fueled one-hour comedy drama stars Rob Lowe, Jenna Fisher and Megan Mullally as an eclectic group of seemingly unconnected people whose lives intersect when news that a comet is on an unavoidable collision course with Earth sets in motion the most hilariously unexpected chain of events imaginable. Joel Fry, Paterson Joseph, Gaia Scodellaro, Pauline Quirke, Fabian McCallum and Kyle Soller also star.